If there is one brand name that is synonymous with quality and innovative marine products specifically designed and engineered for sailors, it’s Ronstan.
This marque is renowned throughout the Sailing World - from humble novice dinghy sailors, right up to America’s Cup skippers and Olympic gold medal winners.
Ronstan has, over the years, grown their business by forming excellent working relationships with their Worldwide distributors, and demanding their ethic for quality and service be maintained by their network.
Upffront.com are therefore particularly pleased to be able to continue this ethos and be able to supply a large number of Ronstan products.
Ronstan was formed seventy years ago, back in 1953 when Ron Allatt and Stan Levepveu formed a partnership building wooden boats from their base in Highett, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia (Ron & Stan became Ronstan, of course).
At first, they concentrated on their boat building, but as time went on, they were increasingly being asked for custom-built hardware items by their friends at the local Black Rock Yacht Club. Eventually, they decided to start manufacturing these products themselves.
In the early years, they had trouble gaining distributors, particularly as the locals were loyal to an existing local company called FICO, (in later years, FICO was bought out by Ronstan) but to get over this Ronstan opened their own showroom.
Over time, and due to varying economic conditions, Ronstan stopped building boats and concentrated on the Marine hardware business.
Ronstan has also maintained close ties with yacht racing’s elite competitors. The challenge of producing high-end, innovative hardware to satisfy the extreme demands of racing conditions, has led to many of the technical breakthroughs that are now available to the modern sailor.
They have won various trade and export awards, but their proudest moment came in 1983 when Ronstan supplied custom-made gear to the America's Cup boat, ‘Australia II’ which, that year, won the Cup from the Americans. A win that is still a source of National pride in Australia, to this day.
Ronstan’s products have also graced many of the medal-winning boats that have won honours over successive Olympic games.
The Company, today, hosts a Worldwide distribution network, supplying gear to more than 45 countries, as diverse as Fiji to Finland, and has in later years, acquired Andersen Winches, a reputable Danish winch manufacturer.
They have also diversified, and now also manufacture and distribute tensile architectural products and industrial hardware.
Ronstan maintains a keen interest in the sport of sailing, indeed most of their employees are active sailors, and the Company sponsors a number of teams, regattas and worthwhile organisations around the World.
The range of quality Ronstan products, available from Upffront, is really diverse and goes from small items like split rings and rope thimbles, right up to really high-end furling systems that are designed to readily handle the rigours of Offshore Racing.
If you have any questions please feel free to email us at support@upffront.com, or click the link below to see our full range:
